Why Rose Byrne Is Reading 'The Feminine Mystique' Now

Betty Friedan's seminal text may have been the inspiration behind the actress' new all-female production company, The Dollhouse Collective.

If you want change, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands, which is precisely what Rose Byrne is now doing in Hollywood. The actress announced this week that she's launched The Dollhouse Collective,an all-female production company with four other Australian women. Byrne and her collaborators are aiming to expand the sort of roles that are presented on-screen, a consideration she takes seriously when it comes to her own filmography. In Adult Beginners, which costars Nick Kroll and her IRL significant other Bobby Cannavale, Byrne plays a mother and wife who is conflicted about her suburban family life and new pregnancy. The movie, out today in theaters and on V.O.D., raises a lot of issues that interested Byrne, who will also appear in the upcoming comedy-action flick Spy with her Bridesmaids costar Melissa McCarthy. Here, she talks to ELLE.com about the misogynist thinking behind film commerce, the perils of growing older, and the perks of being scared to death at work:

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What was the inspiration behind your new production company?

It was a really exciting meeting between all the diverse, brilliant friends of mine in Australia. It happened very organically, out of conversation and creativity, and wanting to explore and develop our own stuff.

Is developing interesting roles for women your thesis?

It's definitely a priority, but it's not a totally exclusive thing either. It's not like there will be no roles for men—that's not the intention whatsoever. But, yeah, it's a priority.

Are there already projects in the works?

Yeah, we have a few things in development. A screenplay and another film. We're very excited to talk about it and get support and make them happen.

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Have you been getting the sorts of roles you hope for in Hollywood recently?

I feel like there's more of a conversation about it. But Rome wasn't built in a day so these things take time. The roles for women on television have historically always been stronger and that, I would say, is still true. The question is commerce. That's probably where there's a block for a lot of people, the commerce behind it. Where is the audience? And it's so clear to me that there is a huge audience for female-driven projects. People still seem to think it's a fluke when it happens. That's one of the hurdles that's still left to be jumped over.

It's weird to me that some people don't think women go to the movies when obviously we do.

Yeah. And women watch plenty of television and theater. They're consumers, like everybody else. I think that is a thing that still has to be addressed and changed.

RADiUS TWC

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How does your character in Adult Beginners fit in with what you're trying to achieve in your career?

I loved the screenplay so much. It read so well and it was really the best thing I'd read in so long. It was such a great, complicated character. I think people are uncomfortable seeing pregnant women, particularly with any kind of conflict. [Pregnancy is] very much a projection of life and love, but it's also very complicated. People have very complicated pregnancies. They could be accidental or people suffer depression, and that was a really interesting thing for me. And a challenging thing. I have not been pregnant. I don't know what that's like, let alone to be really conflicted about it. That was a really interesting thing to do.

How funny that it's juxtaposed with the big-action film Spy, which is your other movie out this spring.

Yes! It so fun to get to reunite with Melissa McCarthy and [Bridesmaids director] Paul Feig. It was really, very fun and a really funny character. She was such a delicious villain to get to play. I just loved it. And she has an incredible hairstyle.

Adult Beginners is very much about people feeling trapped in their lives. Is that a feeling you can relate to?

I think we all have those months or years where we do feel trapped—whether it's about something personal or about work. I love exploring that idea of arrested development, which is a little bit like Neighbors too. That was a couple who still thinks they can go out and do all this stuff and behave a certain way when maybe it's not such a great idea to act like that anymore. The concept of growing up is so hard to quantify. What have you learned and how have you changed and how have you stayed exactly the same? As I get older, it's something I reflect on more and more. Especially as the generations go on. We wait longer to have families, we wait longer to have responsibilities. Everyone used to be married by 20 and pregnant immediately. I've been reading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, which is obviously very dated now but still relevant. It's so interesting to see how far we've come and how far we haven't come with all these myths that people put onto women. It's really fascinating.

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20th Century Fox

What compelled you to read that book now?

It's such a famous text. I had done play called You Can't Take It With You, which is very old. It was written in the '30s. The female role in that I played was very underwritten. We brought a lot to it and it was fun, but it was such an archetypal naïve waif sort of role.

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As you've grown up is there one adult responsibility that you cannot get on board with?

I'm trying to "lean in" more, to quote Sheryl Sandberg, with the more uncomfortable responsibilities that I have. I think it's only through learning, and doing something uncomfortable, that you can actually change. That's why I wanted to do a play. I was so scared of it and I knew my brain would really be stretched and it was going to be hard. And it was hard and uncomfortable. Instead of naturally wanting to avoid all those feelings I need to lean toward them more. But saying that, don't ask me to make a lasagna or a Coq au vin.

So you're not cooking dinner at home?

No!

Have you had a movie or TV role that scared you in the same way this play did?

Damages was pretty intimidating because I'd never been a series regular on an hour-long show before. That's an infamous schedule, and I really wasn't prepared for the hours you work and the work we had. We would get the scripts very late—the night before or the morning of. It's probably good to know that now because it's just very hard work. It's hard to keep up the standard of what you're doing when it's 4 a.m. on a Friday and you're just trying to remember your lines.

You've gotten to work with a lot of really cool women. Who in Hollywood really inspires you?

So many! Where do I start? I think Reese Witherspoon is brilliant. She's so proactive and has a production company, which is producing and buying rights and is incredibly successful. She's amazing and is also a mother. She's incredibly inspiring. And Bruna Papandrea, who is Australian and runs her company with her, is incredible. Jane Campion is really inspiring. I've always loved her work, and how she's so interested in breaking convention. Paul Feig is really inspiring to me. He's so interested in breaking convention as well. He's done so much for commerce and women and really trying to put them up front. Sandra Bullock. Susan Sarandon. Glenn Close.

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It sounds like you could list them all day.

We could sit here all day! Marie Curie. We should really be talking about the doctors and the pioneers. Amelia Earhart. Betty Friedan. Oh, and Lena Dunham. She's actually my number one inspiration. She's brilliant.

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